Legionella pneumophila: monoclonal antibody typing of clinical and environmental isolates.

Forty-one clinical isolates of Legionella pneumophila from sporadic cases of legionella pneumonia were collected from laboratories throughout the United Kingdom and were compared with 300 routine environmental isolates using two panels of monoclonal antibodies, covering serogroups 1-10. Eighty-five per cent of the clinical isolates belonged to the subgroup Pontiac of serogroup 1, whilst only 13% of the environmental isolates did. Approximately half of the clinical isolates tested came from patients with a recent history of foreign travel, mainly to southern Europe.